Single-caliber coaxial output high-power coherent pulse laser sourceTechnical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of lasers, and particularly relates to a single-aperture coaxial output high-power coherent pulse laser source.
Background
The pulse laser with high repetition frequency and high pulse energy is a laser source with wide industrial and scientific research application. The high power output of a pulsed laser typically takes the form of a MOPA structure of a seed light plus a laser amplifier. In this configuration, all laser pulses output by the seed light source enter the same laser amplifier, which in turn amplifies the pulse train. Along with the transmission of laser pulses in a laser amplifier, the energy of all the pulses is amplified, and the peak power density of seed light is increased continuously, so that various nonlinear effects are excited, and the optical efficiency is reduced. In addition, the high repetition rate results in an increase in the average power of the seed light, significant thermal effects in the laser amplifier, a decrease in its beam quality and a limit in the maximum average power that the laser amplifier can withstand, ultimately limiting the pulse energy output.
In order to further increase the output power of the pulse laser, a multi-path laser synthesis mode is usually adopted, and the existing specific approaches are mainly spectral synthesis and polarization synthesis. The spectral synthesis requires the seed light to have the characteristics of narrow line width, high beam quality and the like, and has higher requirements on the damage resistance threshold value, the optical reflectivity and the like of a synthesis device. The polarization synthesis mode also has higher requirements on the polarization characteristics of the seed light, the damage resistance threshold value of the synthesis device, the polarization splitting ratio and the like.
How to realize the synthesis of pulse light, and simultaneously maintain the coherence among the pulses, and realize the coaxial high-power pulse laser output is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently by those skilled in the art.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the defects in the prior art, the invention provides a single-aperture coaxial output high-power coherent pulse laser source. The invention can simply and conveniently realize the time sequence synthesis of the laser pulse, simultaneously keep the coherence among the pulses and realize the coaxial high-power pulse laser output.
In order to achieve the technical purpose, the technical scheme provided by the invention is as follows:
a single aperture coaxial output high power coherent pulsed laser source comprising: the laser beam splitting and reflecting device comprises a seed source, an optical chopper, a beam splitting and reflecting turntable, a laser amplification module, a beam combining and reflecting turntable and a time sequence control module, wherein the beam splitting and reflecting turntable and the beam combining and reflecting turntable are identical in structure and are arranged in mirror symmetry, the beam splitting and reflecting turntable and the beam combining and reflecting turntable respectively comprise a rotating shaft and N groups of reflecting units fixed on the rotating shaft, the N groups of reflecting units are distributed on the outer circumferential surface taking the axis of the rotating shaft as the center at equal intervals, each group of reflecting units comprises two reflectors arranged in parallel, the inclination angles of all the reflectors are identical, and the rotating shaft is driven by a motor to synchronously drive the N groups of reflecting units; the laser amplification module comprises N laser amplifiers, and the time sequence control module is used for controlling the rotation of the optical chopper, the beam splitting reflection turntable and the beam combining reflection turntable;
an optical chopper, a beam splitting reflection turntable, a laser amplification module and a beam combining reflection turntable are sequentially arranged on a transmission path of seed light emitted by a seed source, and the rotation of the optical chopper is controlled by a time sequence control module to convert the seed light into pulse light; the pulse light enters the beam splitting reflection turntable, the rotation of the beam splitting reflection turntable is controlled through the time sequence control module, each group of reflection units in the beam splitting reflection turntable respectively split the pulse light entering at different moments in space according to the incident sequence of the pulse light and emit the split pulse light to the corresponding laser amplifier for power amplification, the rotation of the beam combining reflection turntable is controlled through the time sequence control module, each group of reflection units in the beam combining reflection turntable respectively form the pulse light entering at different moments into combined beam laser to be emitted according to the incident sequence of the amplified pulse light, the emitting optical axis of the amplified pulse light emitted through the combined beam reflection turntable is coaxial with the emitting optical axis of the amplified pulse light after passing through the optical chopper, and when the optical chopper rotates for one cycle, the seed light just passes through the N laser amplifiers.
As a further limitation of the invention, all of the mirrors are disposed at 45 degree tilt.
As a further limitation of the invention, N groups of reflecting units are fixed on the rotating shaft through the rotating disc, and the N groups of reflecting units are arranged on the outer circumferential surface of the rotating disc with the axis of the rotating shaft as the center at equal intervals.
When seed light emitted by a seed source is shielded by the optical chopper, the time sequence control module controls the rotation angle of a rotary disc in the beam splitting reflection rotary disc to enable an ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection rotary disc to be aligned with an incident light axis of the seed light, and as the optical chopper rotates, pulse light after the seed light passes through the optical chopper is just incident to the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection rotary disc, and the pulse light is reflected by two reflectors in the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection rotary disc and then translates in space by a distance diThe optical axis of the pulse light is just aligned with the ith laser amplifier; meanwhile, the time sequence control module also simultaneously controls the rotation angle of a rotary disc in the beam combination reflection rotary disc to ensure that the ith group of reflection units of the beam combination reflection rotary disc are aligned with the ith laser amplifier, the light beam output by the ith laser amplifier enters the ith group of reflection units of the beam combination reflection rotary disc, the ith group of reflection units of the beam combination reflection rotary disc and the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection rotary disc are arranged in a mirror symmetry way, the pulse light incidence angle on the ith group of reflecting units on the beam combining and reflecting turntable is the same as the pulse light incidence angle on the ith group of reflecting units on the beam splitting and reflecting module, the propagation direction of the pulse light between the reflectors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam combining and reflecting turntable is opposite to that of the pulse light between the reflectors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting and reflecting turntable, and the pulse light is reflected by the two reflectors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam combining and reflecting turntable and then is translated by a distance-d in space.iAnd finally, the emergent optical axis of the amplified pulse light is coaxial with the optical axis after passing through the optical chopper.
The type of laser amplifier used in the present invention is not limited, and may be a fiber laser amplifier, a solid laser amplifier, a gas laser amplifier, or the like.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the advantages that:
1. the invention provides a single-aperture coaxial output high-power coherent pulse laser source, which realizes beam splitting and beam combining of pulse light through a beam splitting reflection turntable and a beam combining reflection turntable which are arranged in a mirror image manner and can load high-power laser output.
2. The pulse light source respectively amplifies the split pulse light, so that the heat load of each laser amplifier in the laser amplification module is reduced. The laser amplifier can be optical fiber, solid, gas and the like, the specific shape and structure can also be designed according to laser wavelength, pulse width and the like, and the nonlinear effect can be conveniently inhibited and the peak power and the average power of pulsed light output can be effectively improved by flexibly selecting the type and the structure of the laser amplifier;
3. the pulse light source can keep coherence among the pulse lights after being combined, realizes high-power single-aperture coaxial coherent pulse output, is beneficial to the shaping, transmission and other processes of the light beams, and has wider application scenes.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of example 1 of the present invention;
fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam splitting/combining reflective turntable according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a graph of pulse light timing signals through each laser amplifier in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a diagram of a pulse light timing signal after beam combining according to an embodiment of the present invention;
reference numbers in the figures:
100. a turntable; 101. a reflection unit; 102. a first reflector; 103. a second reflector; 200. a seed source; 201. an optical chopper; 202. a beam splitting reflective turntable; 203. a laser amplification module; 204. a beam combining reflective turntable; 205. and a time sequence control module.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that all the directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, and rear … …) in the embodiment of the present invention are only used to explain the relative position relationship between the components, the movement situation, etc. in a specific posture (as shown in the drawing), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indicator is changed accordingly.
In addition, the descriptions related to "first", "second", etc. in the present invention are only for descriptive purposes and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.
In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and for example, "secured" may be a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral part; the connection can be mechanical connection, electrical connection, physical connection or wireless communication connection; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.
In addition, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention may be combined with each other, but it must be based on the realization of those skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, such a combination of technical solutions should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1, the present embodiment provides a single-aperture coaxial output high-power coherent pulsed laser source, including: the laser beam splitting and reflecting device comprises aseed source 200, anoptical chopper 201, a beam splitting and reflectingturntable 202, alaser amplification module 203, a beam combining and reflectingturntable 204 and a timesequence control module 205, wherein the beam splitting and reflectingturntable 202 and the beam combining and reflectingturntable 204 have the same structure and are arranged in mirror symmetry; thelaser amplification module 203 comprises N laser amplifiers, and thetiming control module 205 is used for controlling the rotation of theoptical chopper 201, the beam splittingreflective turntable 202 and the beam combiningreflective turntable 204. Thetiming control module 205 is a computer device that controls the rotation of theoptical chopper 201, the beam splittingreflective turntable 202, and the beam combiningreflective turntable 204 by controlling motors in theoptical chopper 201, the beam splittingreflective turntable 202, and the beam combiningreflective turntable 204.
Referring to fig. 2, a schematic structural diagram of a beam splitting/combining reflective turntable according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a rotating shaft (not shown), aturntable 100, and N sets ofreflective units 101 fixed on theturntable 100, where the N sets ofreflective units 101 are fixed on the rotating shaft through theturntable 100, and the N sets of reflective units 104 are arranged at equal intervals on an outer circumferential surface of the turntable around an axis of the rotating shaft. Each group of reflection units 104 includes two parallel mirrors, the inclination angles of all the mirrors are the same for thefirst mirror 102 and thesecond mirror 103, and the rotating shaft is driven by a motor to synchronously drive the rotatingdisc 100 on the rotating shaft and the N groups ofreflection units 101 on the rotatingdisc 100 to rotate.
In this embodiment, all the reflectors are arranged at an angle of 45 degrees.
In this embodiment, 5 sets of reflective units 104 are distributed on the circular turntable.
Specifically, anoptical chopper 201, a beam splittingreflection turntable 202, alaser amplification module 203 and a beam combiningreflection turntable 204 are sequentially arranged on a transmission path of seed light emitted by theseed source 200, and the rotation of theoptical chopper 201 is controlled by atiming control module 205 to convert the seed light into pulsed light. The pulse light enters the beam splittingreflection turntable 202, the rotation of the beam splittingreflection turntable 202 is controlled by the timesequence control module 205, each group of reflection units in the beam splittingreflection turntable 202 spatially splits the pulse light entering at different times according to the incidence sequence of the pulse light and emits the split pulse light to the corresponding laser amplifier in thelaser amplification module 203 for power amplification, the rotation of the beam combiningreflection turntable 204 is controlled by the timesequence control module 205, each group of reflection units in the beam combiningreflection turntable 204 respectively form the pulse light entering at different times into combined beam laser light according to the incidence sequence of the amplified pulse light, the exit optical axis of the amplified pulse light exiting through the combined beam reflection turntable is coaxial with the exit optical axis after passing through theoptical chopper 201, and when theoptical chopper 201 rotates for a period, the seed light just passes through the N laser amplifiers.
Specifically, when the seed light emitted by theseed source 200 is blocked by theoptical chopper 201, thetiming control module 205 controls the rotation angle of the turntable in the beam splittingreflective turntable 202 to make the i-th group of reflective units of the beam splittingreflective turntable 202 align with the incident optical axis of the seed light, and as theoptical chopper 201 rotates, when the pulsed light after the seed light passes through theoptical chopper 201 is just incident to the i-th group (i ═ 1 … … N) of the beam splitting reflective turntable 202, the pulsed light is reflected by two reflectors in the i-th group of reflective units of the beam splitting reflective turntable 202 and then spatially translated by a distance diThe optical axis of the pulse light is just aligned with the ith laser amplifier; meanwhile, the timing control module 205 also controls the rotation angle of the turntable in the beam combining reflective turntable 204 at the same time, so that the i-th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204 are aligned with the i-th laser amplifier, the light beam output by the i-th laser amplifier is incident to the i-th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204, and the i-th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204 and the i-th group of reflective units of the beam splitting reflective turntable 202 are arranged in a mirror symmetry manner, so that the beam combining reflection is performedThe incident angle of the pulsed light on the ith group of reflection units of the turntable 204 is the same as that of the pulsed light on the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202, the propagation direction of the pulsed light between the reflection mirrors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam combining reflection turntable 204 is opposite to that of the pulsed light between the reflection mirrors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202, and the pulsed light is reflected by the two reflection mirrors of the ith group of reflection units of the beam combining reflection turntable 204 and then is translated by a distance-d in spaceiFinally, the exit optical axis of the amplified pulsed light is made coaxial with the optical axis after passing through the optical chopper 201.
When the optical chopper 201 blocks the seed light again, the timing control module 205 controls the rotation angle of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202 to rotate the (i + 1) th group of mirrors of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202 to a position aligned with the incident light axis of the seed light, and as the optical chopper 201 rotates, when the pulse light after the seed light passes through the optical chopper 201 is just incident to the (i + 1) th group of mirrors of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202, the pulse light is reflected by two mirrors in the (i) th group of reflection units of the beam splitting reflection turntable 202 and then spatially translated by a distance di+1The optical axis of the pulse light is just aligned with the (i + 1) th laser amplifier; meanwhile, the timing control module 205 controls the rotation angle of the turntable in the beam combining reflective turntable 204 at the same time, so that the (i + 1) th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204 are aligned to the (i + 1) th laser amplifier, the light beam output by the (i + 1) th laser amplifier is incident to the (i + 1) th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204, and the pulsed light is reflected by two reflectors of the (i) th group of reflective units of the beam combining reflective turntable 204 and then spatially translated by a distance-di+1Similarly, an exit optical axis of the amplified pulsed light exiting through the beam combining reflection turntable 204 is coaxial with an exit optical axis of the amplified pulsed light exiting through the optical chopper 201. When theoptical chopper 201 rotates for one cycle, the seed light passes through the N laser amplifiers in order.
Fig. 3 shows the pulse light time sequence signal passing through each laser amplifier, the chopping frequency of the optical chopper is F, the pulse light time sequence signal frequency of each laser amplifier is F/N, and the combined pulse light time sequence signal is shown in fig. 4, where the signal frequency is restored to F.
The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, which falls within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.